Concerned Inventor

My personalDNA Report

It has been a miserable week. Starting Monday night, I started to notice my left big toe and the area around had swollen up pretty bad. I couldn't wiggle my big toe and it was very painful to walk on it. Actually it would be throbbing with pain even when I'm not on my feet. At first I didn't think too much of it, I thought maybe it's just pregnancy swelling or maybe it's caused by all the walking I did over the weekend. The next day I went to work limping. I was hoping it would get better on its own. In fact it got worse, so they let me be the secretary for the rest of the day. It almost killed me walking to my car after work. My colleague thought she might have to put me in a wheelchair. The next morning, it's still not better. I finally had Peter take me to the urgent care. The doctor thought it might be gout. When he pressed on the sore area, I thought I was going to kick the doctor in the face. They drew some blood to see if my uric acid level is up. The doctor told me I shouldn't go to work for at least a couple days. I felt bad because I knew without me, that would put them short at work. Besides, I don't want to use up all my sick time with my maternity leave coming up. After discussing with my supervisor, we decided I could sit in to be the secretary again. Not sure if that was a good idea, because my foot had gotten so big at that point, I couldn't even squeeze it into my shoe. I managed to get through work. When I came home couple nights ago, I went to bed with my feet elevated on couple pillows. It's supposed to help with the swelling. Few hours later, I was woken up by a severe leg cramp. It just happened to be on my left leg. My calf was hard like a rock. Usually Peter's here to massage it for me, or I can relieve it by flexing my toes and feet. There's no way I could do that this time. Not only could I not get rid of the cramp in my leg, my foot was also throbbing with pain. I was so helpless. That's why I'm still awake right now, I'm too scared to go to sleep tonight without my husband standby. Anyway, I checked my lab result at work, it was normal. That means it's not gout. I started to worry maybe it's infection. I feel much relieved now that the swelling finally went down, and the pain has subsided quite a bit. We may never know what was wrong with my foot, but I'm glad I can walk again.

I have to mention the doctor I had at the urgent care, Dr. Bremen, is without a doubt the best doctor I have ever met. Being a nurse, I have met plenty of doctors, but no one can match up to Dr. Bremen. He has such wonderful bedside manner. First of all, he came in with a big smile on his face, and he was cracking jokes the whole time. He called me and Peter by our names. He made eye contact with us, and occasionally he would put his hand on my shoulder. He must have spent at least 10 minutes in the room, that's a lengthy time in doctors' term. What was even more shocking, he called me the next day personally to tell me the lab result was normal and asked how I was doing. When he told me they were going to let me know the result, I was expecting a nurse to call me. He even told me to call him first thing next week to let him know whether my foot is better or not. Dr. Bremen used to be an ER doctor at the hospital I work, so when I mentioned him to my co-workers, they were all aware of how great he is. Even though it has been a sucky week, Dr. Bremen has made my week a lot better.

I'm an introvert. I never knew how introverts are misunderstood, until I read the article Caring For Your Introvert. I have an extrovert friend asked me in more than one occasions if I dislike talking to people and thinks that I appear to be arrogant sometimes. I suppose I can be mistaken as rude or arrogant to those that don't know me. My close friends and family know I'm nothing like that. I admit I'm slow to open up, and I hate being in a group social situation with lots of small talks. I can really relate to the author of this article. The majority of the population is extrovert, that's why the introverts are misrepresented. I don't think I'm a shy person. When I can't think of anything to say, I prefer to be quiet. I consider myself to have good social skills. As a nurse, I meet different people every day. It's up to me to make my patients feel welcomed and comfortable with my care. If I'm too shy or antisocial, I wouldn't be able to do that everyday. After work, I'd like to be me. Some people assume just because I don't talk much, I must not care. In fact, because I actually listen to others when they talk, I can get to know a person better than my extrovert friends do. I have been in so many situations where all these extrovert people keep talking, mostly about nothing, but in the end, they seem to have not heard each other at all. I often have to fill them in of what the others have said or correct them because they have misunderstood each other. I also think that introverts can read people better, because we actually take the time to observe. One of the disadvantages of being an introvert is often time people, the extroverts, assume you must be lonely and uninteresting. Introvert does not equal loneliness, nor are we anti-people. I don't need constant company to feel fulfilled. I enjoy having alone time to reflect. I also love making friends, but I think the introverts have a different friend making philosophy than the extroverts. I don't need to have tens and hundreds of people I can call friends, I just need a few people I can have close meaningful friendships with. In this case, quality is definitely more important than quantity. That doesn't mean I'm not friendly with people. I'm just not "in your face" kind of friendly. Most of us introverts are content with our trait, and we understand how the extroverts are different from us. Most extroverts seem to think the introverts should be more like them. They think maybe if we are more like them, we will be happier. No matter how uncomfortable and tiring my extrovert friends may have made me feel sometimes , I have never asked them to be less extroverted. In other words, I would not want them to change for me. Besides, there's nothing wrong with being an extrovert or an introvert. We just ask you to try to understand respect us and occasionally give us room to breath.

It's a boy! We had an ultrasound today, and we got to see the baby moving his little arms and legs. When the ultrasound tech was trying to get a good picture of the baby's face, he was covering his face with his hand. We finally got one, but he looked like an alien. Hope he doesn't come out looking like that. So glad we can finally call the baby "He", and we can start brainstorming some baby boy names. We are going to Minneapolis tomorrow. This may be our last trip before the baby comes.

今天照超聲波照到是仔呀！有小小驚喜。其實男女都無所為﹐最重要是健康。除了看性別﹐還檢查BB各個器官是否發展正常。還好﹐一切正常﹐而且醫生話BB的發展的比一些同樣週期的BB快一點﹐不過不會影響到個預產期。終於可以開始構思BB名了。

Second day into my cold, I feel miserable. Though I feel very weak, I can't sleep anymore. I have my husband to thank for this. He was sick over the weekend. He's always the first one to get sick, and I always follow. I plan on doing more sleeping and laying around today. Hopefully I can go back to work tomorrow. I have using my paid time off, because I'm trying to save up for my maternity leave.

哎呀！又病了。今次傷風又是老公害的。每次他病完就到我﹐真是同病雙連。以經病了一整天﹐開始有好轉﹐但是還是很累和四肢無力﹐還是告多天病假好了。下個星期五會照超聲波﹐檢查BB是否一切正常﹐到時還可以知道BB的性別。

今日焗了些雪藏蛋撻﹐都幾好味﹐但是一食令我忽然間好想好想飲維他檸檬茶。但是這邊無得買﹐嗚~

I went to a farewell party tonight and had a lovely time. The best part of the day though was when I went to get a pedicure. I hadn't had one for a long time. I did my own nails last couple times, to be honest, it is worth the money. When the gal massaged my pregnant feet and legs, it felt especially nice this time. I almost fell asleep. There's no way I will paint my own nails again, besides, I can hardly reach my toes now. Tomorrow we are going to the stork affair, I'm excited.

I think I have started to feel the baby moving in my belly. It's a funny feeling for sure. It feels like little bubbles popping. Peter put his hand on my tummy to see if he can feel it too, but it's still too soon for that I think. My carpel tunnel problem hasn't improved much. I'm just going to have to deal with it.

So I started a journal on my pregnancy. I think I'm going to extend it to motherhood. I was listening to Dr. Laura the other day, and one lady said she has been keeping a journal on each of her kids. Nothing fancy and deep, just small entries on the cute and not so cute things her kids do. She's going to give her kids the journals when they turn 21. I think that's a great idea. Wouldn't it be fun to read about your mom's thoughts when you drew her her first mother's day card or when you were really sick that time? So far I have been writing about the doctor's visits. We just had our third one Friday. I'm always paranoid about how the baby's doing especially when I can't feel the baby's movement yet. Hearing the heart beat was a relief for me. I think I have gained 20 lbs already. We scheduled an ultrasound for our next visit. I can't wait to see if we are having a boy or girl.

Blogging has become a difficult task for me lately. I have developed carpal tunnel syndrome. I guess this happens to a lot of pregnancy women. The numbness and tingling make it hard for me to hold things. Every morning I wake up with such pain in my hands, I even have trouble making fists. I finally got a brace last night, and it seems to help so far. Besides this, I haven been feeling okay. Of course there's the usual fatigue, but not much nausea. We heard the baby's heart beat at our last doctor visit. It was weird.

Happy July 4th everyone! We had an early celebration yesterday at the church bbq then watched the fireworks together. It was funny how some of the little kids were scared of the fireworks and some were super excited. Tonight I worked until 7 and had the rest of the night by myself. I went and got some great sushi takeout. I had so much that I don't think I want to eat any sushi for a while. This pregnancy has been good to me so far. I have only been having some nausea and fatigue. Although I hate that feeling, I know it could be worse. I hope I continue to feel good and healthy through the rest of my pregnancy.

So we really like this guy Ron Paul. He's one of the republican presidential candidates. He's a 10th-term congressman of the 14th congressional distric of Texas. He's also a retired OB doctor. He a lot of great ideas that have made him stand out from the rest of the candidates. You may not have heard a lot of him because the mainstream media tries to hide him from the public. Even the republican party wants to get him out even though he is gaining his popularity rapidly on the internet. They even tried to ban him from the last presidential debate. He is an advocate for the Constitution. They nicknamed him "Dr. No" because he votes against any bill he believes to be violating the Constitution. They tried to get him out of the debates, but again and again, different polls show he came out on top. We were excited to hear that he's coming to Des Moines to speak yesterday at a local event center, just next door to the Republican candidates forum sponsored by the Iowa Christian Alliance and Iowans for Tax Relief. Ron Paul was the only GOP candidates excluded from the event. We were glad that we got to be there. There were about 1,000 audience at the Ron Paul event compared to several hundreds that showed up at the other forum. The room was packed. So we were really confused and angry when the local news reported there was only a hand full of people. They only showed a small group of supporters that were rallying outside. They even went as far as saying that they offered free food in order to attract people to his event. Okay yeah, so all the people from different states, Illnois, California and many others, traveled across the country here just for the free burgers or pretzels. Give me a break! It's so shameful that even local news will do that. So if you want to check out Ron Paul yourself instead of letting the mainstream media tells you who to vote for, go to http://ronpaul2008.com or youtube and type in Ron Paul. You may not agree with him or even think that his ideas are too crazy for today's America, but at least he gives you something different to think about.

I had my first strong case of morning sickness today. I woke up with a terrible headache and nausea. I felt like I wasn't sick enough to call in though, so I went to work as usual. Few hours into my work, my nausea got worse, and at one point I had to rush to the bathroom thinking I was going to throw up. Luckily I didn't, but dry heaving was just as bad. There's no way I could continue to work, so I came home early. I finally told people at work about my pregnancy because I couldn't lie about why I wasn't feeling well. Besides I think it's time to tell everyone. I don't want to have to wear a sign saying "no I'm not getting fat, I'm pregnant!".

奇怪﹐當身邊的朋友和親戚都紛紛向我們祝賀﹐反而自己的親弟的反應如此冷淡。當我問他媽咪將喜事告訴他沒有﹐他只說了句“有”。真的只可這樣嗎？我知我們的關係並沒有那麼好﹐平時更話都沒兩句﹐但就算是陌生人也會說句恭喜吧﹐更何況他將會是BB的叔叔﹐真的很怪呢！

終於可以向大家宣報我有了BB的消息！今天去見過醫生﹐一切正常﹐還照了第一張超聲波。BB的性別就要等20週時才照得出。右邊是頭﹐左邊是屁股﹐還有上下兩邊的手。我還見到BB在動和心跳﹐那一刻真的快要哭出來了。

I'm happy to finally annouce that Peter and I are expecting our first baby. We just went to our first doctor visit today. Everything is going okay. We even got to see the baby heart beating and moving in my womb through ultra sound today. Not sure if you can see, but the head is on the right, and the butt of course is on the left. You can even see the two little arms next to the baby's head. Seeing the baby for the first time was unreal. There's nothing compared to it. I almost cried. Then I looked at Peter, and I saw the smile on his face. I can't believe we are going to be parents.

爸﹐父親節快樂！

I was taking care of a 90 some year old man yesterday. He was very nice and always appreciative. Even after we moved and turned him, which was really painful for him, he always thanked us and told us how nice we were to him. Today I came to work, and my co-workers told me this gentleman passed away this morning. I was a little shocked. Even given his age, he was doing not great but okay. I guess he has asked for a warm blanket, and an hour after the nurse gave him the blanket, they found him passed away in his sleep. We have seen so many patients that are just waiting to die with much suffering, so it's nice to see him die in peace and with dignity. I remember our last conversation was after waking him up for his bedtime meds, I joked and told him I wouldn't bother him again. Then he took my hand and told me I'm no bother and how nice I am. He said if they ask him about me, he would say all the good things about me. Not sure who "they" are, but I hope he's telling those in heaven nice things about me right now, hee.

I'm counting down the days until I'm retired. What a long way to go. After working a real job for almost 5 years now, I still don't have my retirement account set up. I need to talk to some smart people. I have so many things I need to get done right now. Even though I have so much time, I have so little energy to do anything. I'm too lazy to even go to a movie. I still need to apply for citizenship. I can't believe how much money and time we have spent on this.

Schroeder has finally mellowed down some. He's not as scatty as he used to be. Thank goodness. I hope he will continue to improve, otherwise I will have to fedex him to my starving cousin in China. Just kidding. He still loves to bark at strangers and things, especially our neighbor who wears wifebeater all the time. Last night, he started barking nonstop at nothing. We think he might have seen some fireflies or bunnies. What a wuss.

哎喲！好久未寫部落格了。除了因為自己懶的個性外﹐還有其他原因。其實有時也受不了自己的懶惰﹐現在手頭上實在是太多東西要辦﹐但總是提不起勁做﹐怎辦﹖為了方便日後寫部落格﹐我決定又一次將中英文版合拼﹐希望真的有幫助。

最近小狗終於開始定性﹐沒有以前那種過度活躍﹐真的拜託了﹗因為牠之前的那個無時停的情況﹐害我們差點將牠送去動物協會。不過牠還是很愛吠﹐昨晚更在後院吠個不停﹐我想牠大概是見到野兔或熒火蟲那些小動物﹐膽小狗﹗

It was my first time as a charge nurse tonight. Like always, things got a little crazy in the 1st four hours. We had one situation where we needed to transfer a patient to a critical bed but there wasn't any available. The nurse that was taking care of that patient was so overwhelmed and falling behind. There's nothing I could do about the bed situation, so I helped that nurse taking care of her other patients on top of my own group of patients. I felt so frustrated because I felt like there should be more I could do to help that nurse. But I think in the end, everything turned out okay. We were able to finally send that patient to a critical floor, and everything else were under control. It was a good experience I think. Would I do that again? Only if I have to.

On a different subject, we found Schroeder missing when we came home from work last night. Peter walked around the neighborhood but found nothing. I was devastated. I was worried what could have happened to Schroeder. I thought we had lost him forever. (Peter would love that) This morning I got a call from the animal control people. They found Schroeder. Actually when I answered the phone, the first thing they said to me was "Are you missing something?". We had to pay $50(ransom) to get Schroeder back. I guess Schroder must have gotten our of the fence and was standing at our sidewalk, when someone saw him and took him to the authority. I'm glad Schroeder is finally home.